Ridge Soaring accident

danlj wrote:

(some deletions)

Ian Cant wrote:
it also has
the advantage that it can be activated in advance -
for instance, when facing a certain landing in dangerous
terrain, it could be activated on final approach, ensuring
a signal is sent out even if the landing is disastrous
and the ELT fails to activate on impact.

The ELT normally has a three-position switch if it's switchable: "on"
"arm" and "off" If you turn it "on" it continuously emits a distress
call and beeps loudly. The distress call will activate search and
rescue efforts, beginning with an attempt to discover whether it's a
false alarm (since most ELT activations are inadvertent). While this
act may seem like a safety measure, the side effects may overload the
emergency response system if all us glider pilots start doing this for
every landing. Rather, perhaps it should be routine to turn it "on"
as the initial step in committing to an off-airport landing, turning
it "off" after landing if all is OK.

Both Ian and I agree with you, as Ian's comment makes clear the manual
activation is for a potentially disastrous landing, not every landing.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org